For many years mixers with downwardly extending shafts and some type of agitator on the end thereof have been used to mix food products, such as milk shakes, in a cup. More recently, mixers with more powerful motors have been used to mix candy and other condiments into ice cream or other viscous desserts. Often this is done in a store or restaurant on a self-serve basis wherein the user fills his cup with ice cream or the desired condiments, positions the cup so that the agitator of the mixer is within the ice cream, turns on the mixer to initiate the mixing, and, for best results, moves the cup around, vertically and laterally, for total mixing.
During this rather aggressive mixing process, food items can be thrown out of the cup and splash the surrounding area or even the user himself. Moreover, such splashing almost always contaminates the exposed portions of the inside of the mixer thereby requiring frequent cleaning maintenance. In addition, unless the machine is turned off before the cup is lowered from its operating position surrounding the agitator, still more of the food clinging to the agitator is freely spun off into the surrounding environment.
Present attempts at providing splash guards for such equipment have been unsatisfactory primarily because they make the mixer cumbersome to use while still not providing complete splash protection. One common splash guard, for example, is merely a clear plastic shield which is located between the agitator and the open access front end of the mixer. The shield is usually pivotally mounted in the mixer so that the user must swing it upward and slightly out of the way to locate the cup around the agitator.
The process of using a mixer with such a splash guard can be quite cumbersome and inconvenient, particularly to the self-service user. First, the mixer is turned on to rotate the agitator and preferably with one hand the user swings and holds the guard upward for access to the agitator while the other hand positions the cup around the agitator such that the contents thereof will be mixed. Exposing the food item in the cup to an agitator which is already moving, of course, increases the probablity of splash and with the guard necessarily swung partially out of the way, complete splash protection even in one direction is not afforded. While one hand operation is possible, that is, the wrist or forearm of the hand of the user holding the cup can also maintain the splash guard partially out of the way, freeing the other hand to turn on the agitator after the cup is positioned therearound to minimize splash, such use of the wrist or forearm limits the mobility of the hand doing the mixing.
Moreover, such splash guards only protect, even in the partial way just described, the front open end of the mixer, 360.degree. protection around the cup not being afforded, nor is there any protection around the top of the cup.
Finally, prior art splash guards have no way of assuring that the user will not accidentally allow the agitator to penetrate the bottom of the cup thereby losing the contents of the same. Such damage to the cup is a somewhat frequent occurrence particularly in view of the fact that the user's attention is focused on maneuvering the splash guard and not always on the precise location of the cup relative to the agitator. Food mixers are therefore often provided with extra devices which assure that the user will not permit the agitator to penetrate the bottom of the cup but such devices add expense to the product and are in need of constant adjustment dependent on the size of the cup being used.